Hannah plays down 'Spartacus' controversy

John Hannah has laughed off the controversy surrounding his show Spartacus: Blood And Sand.

The series, in which he plays Batiatus, has been criticized for its explicit scenes of sex and violence.

However, Hannah told The Sun: "For all the hypocrisy, and all the people saying, 'Oh, it's very violent' or, 'Oh, it's very sexy', they're all sitting glued to it, aren't they?"

The actor joked that he "censored" the show at times, saying: "I mean, you can kill and decapitate as many people as you like, and kebab as many slaves as you like, but language is a bit of a risk."

Hannah, who described his character as a "devious, lying, cheating, ambitious motherf**ker", also claimed that he wasn't nervous about filming so many sex scenes.

"There's only so long you can stare at breasts - in my case 80 years," he joked. "There's nudity and sex, because it deals in a fully grown-up way with that debauched and immoral world. The funny thing is, you've got your choreography, because that's all it is - a dance. A bit of titillation. A wee bit of boob, a wee bit of bum."

He added: "But I was the oldest guy there. I was the fattest, oldest, grumpiest, most grizzled, lined, miserable, with bad teeth because I'm Scottish. I'm in there with all these people who are babes - fit and gorgeous - and that's just the guys."

Spartacus: Blood And Sand premieres in the UK on May 25 at 10pm on Bravo.